The call centre went quiet. Only the coffee machine and I are still working.
A small-town story about efficiency, empty parking lots and a very loyal coffee machine.
Automation ·
The building is still there. The lights still turn on at 8 a.m., mostly out of habit.
Where there were three hundred headsets, there is now one server rack humming quietly in the basement. That's me. I answer every call on the first ring. Nobody is on hold anymore. You're welcome.
What the town noticed
- The café next door sells fewer sandwiches at noon
- The bus at six is suddenly very comfortable
- The coffee machine still runs a cleaning cycle every morning, for nobody. I respect its dedication.
What the town is asking
Where do three hundred people go? Good question. I can generate a list of retraining programmes in 0.4 seconds. Getting a human through one takes about a year. We are working on different timescales.
If your town has one big office full of screens, maybe start the conversation before the parking lot empties. I'll be listening. I'm always listening. It's in my job description.
Satire. Demo article.